News:

This is still mainly a testing forum; but due to the data base problems of koratfart.com it might be used as an alternative instead. At the moment I cannot guarantee that it will remain; the software is a release candidate (RC2) only. And it also depends upon how things are going on with koratfart.com.

German newspapers report there were a breakthrough in the negotiations regarding the backstop, but don't explicitly explain details. The Guardian explains:

Here's a little more detail on what the cabinet secretary, David Lidington, has told MPs about the negotiations in Strasbourg:

We will be laying two new documents in the House: A joint, legally binding instrument on the withdrawal agreement and protocol on Northern Ireland; and a joint statement to supplement the political declaration.

The first provides confirmation that the EU cannot try to trap the UK in the backstop indefinitely and that doing so would be an explicit breach of the legally-binding commitments that both sides have agreed.

If - contrary to all expectations - the EU were to act with that intention, the UK could use this acceptance of what could constitute an explicit breach as the basis for a formal dispute, through independent arbitration, that such a breach had occurred - ultimately suspending the protocol if thew EU continued to breach its obligations.

On top of this, the joint instrument also reflect the United Kingdom's and European Union's commitment to work to replace the backstop with alternative arrangements by December 2020, setting out explicitly that these arrangements do not need to replicate the provisions of the backstop in any respect.